While Brandon Deener was creating work to be showcased for “In Unison,” his first New York City solo exhibition, he began to envision the pieces accompanied by his own music that would inevitably be the soundtrack to the works for the art show. Having prior experience producing alongside Timbaland for artists like Missy Elliott and Demi Lovato, the Memphis-born multi-hyphenate brought a piano into his Los Angeles warehouse and began writing compositions, little melodic lines he would use to build new songs. Those songs turned into The Sound of Unison, a companion piece of sorts to the forthcoming exhibition—and the sort of sterling, unified body of work that exists as a testament to Deener’s skills as an MC and producer. On The Sound of Unison, Brandon Deener proves he’s not merely a visual artist who makes music, but a top-notch MC who also happens to be one of the most exciting painters in the game. 
 On “Palettes,” Deener outlines the Afrofuturistic philosophy that he says informs all his work across media. Over a contemplative piano melody, snare drum rim clicks, and an occasional electrifying bass run, he spits, “Mercy mercy, skin Hershey / All in all of my portraits / That mean mocha skin all in MOCA museums ’cuz these Black babies deserve to see ’em.” It’s an immensely powerful meditation on gatekeeping, and the barriers Deener continues to smash across his various artistic endeavors.